‘Whatever.’ Her mother gave a sigh. ‘But I’ve got some experience of this, Hannah. When your father died, I thought that it was the end of my world too. Don’t get me wrong, I miss him every day, and I’ll always be grateful to you for helping me through that time. But I have a few more things I want to accomplish now, and you should too.’
‘You think that Sam and my job aren’t enough for me?’
‘You always say they are. It doesn’t mean that you can’t have more.’
Thankfully, her mother didn’t press the point. She called Sam back over, and Matt followed, throwing himself down onto the grass.
‘Sam, have something to drink, it’s very hot.’ Her mother produced one of Sam’s favourite toys from her bag. ‘And you can show Matt your spaceship if you like. He doesn’t want to go running around too much, he’s got another challenge to do this afternoon.’
Matt shot her mother a grateful look, and turned his attention to Sam’s demonstration of the spaceship’s various features. He was nice with him, always including him in his conversation and listening to his opinions, giving them as much weight as if he were an adult. Sam was unable to put Matt’s respect for him into words, but he felt it and liked Matt.
After half an hour, the contestants were called back and escorted to the same rooms they’d been in that morning. There was no wait this time, and Matt was taken straight out again, leaving Hannah to wonder what was in store for them. He reappeared ten minutes later, holding the same helmets they’d been wearing that morning.
‘No! Not another one?’
‘Well, thankfully this one is sitting down.’ He handed Hannah’s helmet to her, and she saw that it was fitted out with the same goggles that he’d had earlier. ‘You get to drive an electric buggy.’
‘Blindfold... They want me to operate a vehicle blindfold.’
Matt shrugged. ‘That’s okay, isn’t it? You’ve got me to tell you which way to go. The course is laid out in the park, next to the hospital. I drive you over there, and then you take over.’
She wondered if he’d felt this way this morning. Blind and reliant on him. Matt was allowed to steer her out of the building and across the grass, and every touch was electric. All that stood between her and the ground.
He helped her into the buggy and they made the short trip over to the park. It was announced that the contestants would have ten minutes to familiarise themselves with the vehicles, and Hannah slid across into the driving seat. His hands guided hers to the steering wheel and once she was confident about being able to find the forward and reverse gears without too much fumbling around, he bent down, guiding her feet to the accelerator and footbrake pedals.
‘I’ve got it. How do I start this thing?’
She felt his fingertips touch her hand, guiding it towards the starter keys. She twisted them, hearing a muted whine as the electric engine started up. A few tentative moves forward and then backwards again, and then she heard someone shouting an instruction.
‘We’re going to start in a minute.’ She heard Matt’s voice in the speaker fitted to her helmet. ‘I can’t touch you now...’
Hannah shivered. It sounded like an erotic promise, just his voice in the darkness and a shared purpose...
‘What are the others doing?’ This was a race, and Hannah tried to keep her mind off anything that she and Matt might do together in the darkness. ‘I can’t hear their buggies.’
‘No, everyone has their own separate course. Ours goes to the left of the ornamental pond and it looks as if the others go to the right.’
‘Right. So when in doubt steer left, or we both end up in the water.’
His deep, low chuckle sounded in her ear. ‘Yep. If we do, just hold onto the buggy and I’ll fish you out. There’s a slalom for starters, so go slowly. After that there’s a straight run and you can speed up a bit.’
‘Okay. Got it.’ The fantasy of Matt in the darkness was replaced with one of Matt in the water, saving her. Hannah gripped the steering wheel tightly, waiting for the starting buzzer.
They made it through the slalom, Matt’s voice in her ear encouraging her and telling her which way to steer. Then he told her to put her foot down and go a little faster.
‘Stop!’ His voice sounded in the microphone, suddenly tense. ‘Hannah take the helmet off!’
That meant instant disqualification, they’d been told that. But Matt could see what was happening around them and she couldn’t. Hannah pulled the helmet off, blinking in the sunlight. Matt already had the door of the buggy open, and he glanced back at her.
‘This is real...’
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE SPECTATORS WERE ahead of them, in an area where the four courses converged at the finish line. Matt concentrated hard on directing Hannah, looking out for any obstacles in their path that the vehicle couldn’t manage. He’d seen the young man fiddling with the bundle of power cables that ran beside the white lines on the grass that marked their route.
Something about the way he was yanking the cables, not seeming to know quite what he was doing, seemed wrong, and at odds with the usual professionalism of the camera crews. A sixth sense made Matt glance at the man a second time, and it was then that it happened. A spark, a cry and the man was thrown backwards. They were far enough away from the finish line and the other three teams that no one seemed to notice.
In the flood of adrenalin it didn’t occur to him that this might be some carefully constructed feint to test them. This had all the awkward unpredictability of reality, and he was out of the vehicle before it had properly stopped, calling to Hannah. He ran across the grass, kneeling down beside the man.